Western Warfare, 1775-1882 (review)

Abstract

An amazingly prolific military and diplomatic historian, Professor Black has never written a bad book and this slim but ambitious and erudite volume continues the practice. It is a continuation of his earlier book, European Warfare, 1660-1815 (1994) but in contrast with the earlier work with its emphasis on continuities it stresses change. Its emphasis remains global and inclusive. It expands the term European to Western Warfare, that is conflicts in which the West was involved. This includes developments in the New World, not only in North America but also the much-neglected Latin American wars, covering not only conflicts between states but also civil wars and insurgencies The book examines the impact of Western warfare on non-western societies. The discussion includes land and sea warfare and consideration of military capabilities in terms of organization, strategy and tactics, weaponry and fighting techniques, and the industrial and social factors of waging the various types of war, noting that military capability is not an absolute but a relative concept. Within this context the author questions whether military "modernity," regarded by most military historians as the product of a deterministic and linear development, or whether a more complex and dynamic process stressing relative capabilities, provides the best approach to understanding the military past.